The 2024 Australian Political Book of the Year is FLOWED HERO : TRUTH, LIES AND WAR CRIMES by Chris Masters, published by Allen and Unwin.
The Australian Political Book of the Year Award is jointly sponsored by iconic bookstore Hill of Content and public strategy firm York Park Group.
Established in 2022, the Award recognises the vital part political books play in better understanding Australian politics and public policy and celebrates contemporary Australian political writing.
Announced by Treasurer the Hon. Dr Jim Chalmers MP at the National Press Club in Canberra, the Judges said Chris Masters book “addresses some of the troubling questions of the ethics of war which echo through many of the world’s current conflicts”.
“Chris Masters takes us onto the frontline of Australia’s longest war and into the darker chapters of our involvement in Afghanistan,” the Judges said.
“It is a book reflecting the lengthy and courageous reporting of Chris Masters and others which challenges the ideas Australians have of ourselves as a miliary nation whose soldiers’ actions on the battlefield are always beyond reproach.
“The trauma of the very long engagement in Afghanistan – and the demands on many of servicemen and women to go back there too often – has been part of the dark story that has unfolded in the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicides that reported this year.
“The book also gives readers a rare look into the world of journalism itself, and the costs and consequences of defending it through Australia’s biggest defamation case.
“It documents issues that our political leaders – as well as the defence establishment – still need to confront at a time when growing regional tensions have only escalated the national commitment to defence,” the Judges said.
The Award’s distinguished panel of judges were Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University, John Warhurst AO; ABC 7.30 Chief Political correspondent and author, Laura Tingle; and political journalist, Barrie Cassidy.
A record number of submissions were received this year, from which 10 books were Longlisted and four Shortlisted.
The other three Shortlisted titles this year were: Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr, Bad Cop: Peter Dutton’s Strongman Politics by Lech Blaine, and Donald Horne: A Life in the Lucky Country by Ryan Cropp.
“We congratulate all four finalists for this year’s Award for bringing their readers important new insights into Australia’s contemporary and historical politics,” the Judges said.
“The themes of political gamesmanship, political ideas and things done in our collective name run through the finalists entries as always.”
Each Shortlisted author will receive $1,000 in prize money. The Award winner will receive $15,000.
Previous winners of the Australian Political Book of the Year are: Bulldozed: Scott Morrison’s Fall and Anthony Albanese’s Rise by Niki Savva in 2023 and Telling Tennant’s Story: The Strange Career of the Great Australian Silence by Dean Ashenden in 2022.
